Diddy Kong's Nightmare
by DiddyKF1
Summary: It's July 6, 2012, and Diddy Kong has a nightmare about the time he had to guard Donkey Kong's banana hoard on a stormy night. Worse still, a half-reference to something very disturbing appears at the end of his nightmare that makes him not want to sleep again! After breakfast, Diddy shyly tells DK about his nightmare and DK tries to comfort him. This is told through Diddy's POV.


It was early July 2012, and I had been having a lot of success in the "Enthusia Professional Racing" based Cup Series at the time. I would eventually break the all-time consecutive wins record by July 15! However, this month didn't come without a point in which I had a nightmarish flashback.

It was Friday night, July 6. I had just qualified on pole position for my next Enthusia race in Tokyo, Japan (REV CITY). I could remember my good ol' buddy, DK, almost winning a race here back in 1998 and coming up short. He ended up in like 4th or 5th, something like that. Only a matter of hours after crushing the competition in qualifying in my 2003 Xanavi Nismo GT-R, I went back home that night thinking on that tenth consecutive win, having already won the last nine races in succession. This tenth straight win would tie the all-time consecutive wins record for the Enthusia Professional Cup Series that had stood for 45 years! However, once I fell asleep, it was a completely different story...

It was about 2:45 am Saturday morning when I woke up from what turned out to be a nightmare about that stormy night in 1994 ("Donkey Kong Country")! I'm trying to think about the upcoming race, and yet there I was, in a flashback of the time when DK assigned me to guard his banana hoard as part of my "hero training"! I often didn't like to think about that horrible night. I didn't scream when I woke up suddenly, but I couldn't even lay my head back down on my pillow, either, as I didn't want those visions to reappear. I just sat there in my bed, gazing at the starry skies out my window. I then decided to sit down on my couch where I often play my huge collection of video games, almost all of which are "Donkey Kong" games based on adventures that DK and I have had in the past. I even have a console that I made myself that only plays the Codemasters Formula 1 games! I sat there for about ten minutes, and then I stood up and walked over to my CD collection, and gazed at the electronic dance music section, which was mostly filled with Sub Focus and Pendulum CDs. However, when I slowly walked back to my bed, I still just couldn't close my eyes. I just laid there staring at the monkey bars on my ceiling, unable to recover from that terrible nightmare!

Eventually, about five hours later, the sun was rising, and I decided to head to the kitchen to see if DK was awake and if he could help me get that nightmare out of my head. I took my MP3 player with me and slowly walked to the kitchen.

I walked in, and there he was, having just finished some banana-filled breakfast.

"Hey, DK," I said as I walked in.

"Hey there, little buddy," said DK. "How's the local two-time Enthusia champion doing?"

"I'm okay," I sighed. I didn't want DK to worry too much about me. He didn't have any idea about how bad my nightmare was, but he was to find out real soon.

DK treated me to a banana-flavored waffle. As you would expect, I enjoyed it so much! After I finished my breakfast, we both walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. I turned my MP3 on and decided to listen to Pendulum's "Watercolour", one of the songs that got me into "F1 2010". As the music started playing in my ears, I stood up and stretched my arms to keep them from getting tired. I had been awake for 5 hours straight before walking into the kitchen, so it was going to be hard for me to avoid getting tired. I laid down on the side of the sofa and leaned my head back against a pillow. DK decided to sit next to me. I tried to hide the fact that I was just beside myself from that nightmare, but then I was thinking about it again, even with my ears draining to Pendulum music! I simply sighed and DK noticed I wasn't feeling very happy at all. He patted me on the back to get my attention, and I turned my MP3's volume down so I could hear him.

"Hey, Diddy," he said. "You've got a slightly depressed look on your face. Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

I figured I could still hide my feelings from him so that he wouldn't get suspicious feelings about me during a time when I was dominating in racing, so I just insisted I was fine, and then asked him, "Why do you ask?"

DK answered, "Well, you had this look on your face that gives me a sense that something is troubling you a little bit, and I was just wondering what it was."

I still didn't want to blurt anything out, so I asked him, "Are you feeling sure of it, big buddy?"

"I'm feeling very sure of it, little buddy", he said.

I gulped. I felt too shy to say anything to DK.

"I can't tell you", I told him. "It's just horrible."

DK crouched down closer to me so he could keep me comfortable.

"Come on, little buddy," he encouraged me. "What's wrong?"

This was it! There was no way I could hide it now! I had to tell him now, one way or the other! I turned my MP3 off right in the middle of the Pendulum song that I was playing.

"DK," I sighed. "Do you ever have times in your life that you later have nightmares about because something went so terribly wrong, because that's what happened to me last night. I had a nightmarish flashback."

I was expecting DK to feel lost in confusion about me having a nightmare during a time I was having a fantastic race-winning streak, but he was very kind about it. He asked me what my "nightmarish flashback" was about. My shyness came back, and I once again insisted that I couldn't tell DK about my nightmare, but I knew that I could tell him anything since we are best buddies. I gulped and spilled out:

"This is one that I don't even like to bring up, even to myself, but … I can go ahead right now and start with these very words: It was a dark and stormy night."

DK took just 15 seconds to think about it and came to guess that it was that stormy night in 1994. I shyly blurted out, "Yes," in such despair.

"I find it hard to even tell you the story about what happened that night," I said to DK. "It gets very scary, and it ends horribly."

"Tell me everything, little buddy," said DK in his sweetest "best buddy" voice. "I'd like to know."

And this is how I told DK about my nightmare:

Lightning flashed, … illuminating the jungle canopy above me. Rain poured down in torrents, … hitting the corrugated roof of the tree house, … and whirling into a stream on the ground. I shivered. I moved further back into the tree house. The wind had changed, … and the rain was coming on me now, … limiting my sight. I said to myself,

"Diddy, … you should never have done this, … not tonight."

Then I looked over the edge of the tree house, … just to reassure myself that the ground was still there, and that I could leave whenever I wanted. The rain limited my vision to only a few feet, … but I was shocked so I scurried back inside.

Another bright flash of lightning, … and I saw the dripping leaves on the top of the trees, … making an eerie pattering sound. A few seconds later, another blast of lightning lit up the entire area. I froze. The lightning's respective thunder sounded. I strained my eyes, … just to see, … to make sure that what I saw was truly there. As if on cue, a third crack of lightning flashed, … and bathed the area in a white electric glow for a few precious seconds. Yes, … this time… I was sure of it. There were Kremlings in the bushes, … undoubtedly watching my every move. I shivered. I thought, "_They shouldn't be there._" I stopped thinking about my predicament so deeply, as I was scaring myself. Then, I had to gather up all my courage, and I called out.

"Who goes there?"

I got no reply. I called again, and still nothing happened. Lightning flashed once more. I took the reassuring light to figure out the Kremlings' exact positions. I scanned the jungle floor, … and stopped. They weren't there. I started to panic. They were after the bananas, I was sure of it. In a fit of angst, … I jumped from the tree house, immediately doing my cartwheel roll to stop anything that was trying to attack me, which, of course, there was … nothing that did, … and there I was, fully exposed now, in the clearing in front of the tree house. I'm sure that was the big mistake I made. Only seconds later, … their moment of opportunity came. I backed myself to the ladder, and then … I froze as there was a sudden warmth on the back of my neck. I turned around … and … there was a Kremling breathing on me, … grinning … widely. And then, … before I could even process the thought, … I … (I gulped several times before I could tell DK what happened next) … I was stuffed … head-first into a barrel … and punted into the bushes.

Then, for about five seconds it was a peaceful darkness, … and then after that … came something much worse.

This was where I became overly shy again, as I struggled to tell DK what came next, but DK encouraged me to tell him what it was.

"That … horrible screen came up on my face," I said.

"Horrible screen? What are you talking about?" asked DK, confused.

"How could you not know what I'm talking about?" I asked him, shocked that he hadn't remembered that "horrible screen". "You know exactly what I mean."

"Hardly," said DK.

I shut my eyes tight, and suddenly blurted out,

"That horrible picture of me with that black eye!"

I had just referred to that game's disturbing "Game Over" screen!

DK suddenly remembered it, and gasped in shock, "Is that why you've been feeling so blue this morning?"

"Yes!" I answered with tears coming out of my eyes.

"Aww, dear," was all DK could say.

"There were some similarities," I explained with a few tears, "Yes, my right eye was black, half of my cap's brim was ripped off, and that sad music also played, ... but ... there were also some differences."

"Really?" asked DK.

"My mouth looked so angry, my left eye was tearing, blood was dripping down my bruised face, and ... you weren't even there!"

"I wasn't there?" asked a shocked DK.

"NO!" I cried, "That whole time I had wished you were there to back me up before those reptiles captured me, but ... you never came! Even on my 'Game Over' picture you were gone! POOR ME! I WAS ALL ALONE AND I FELT SO ALONE!" I yelled.

"Aww, Diddy," said DK, patting my chest.

"Why would they make an image like that!?" I furiously cried, "Even though that's not what really happened on our real adventure, they just thought that while they were making that game based on it, they would come up with this thing in which if a player fails, he or she would get that gruesome image! It ... it ... (I almost couldn't finish my sentence due to that image continuously popping up in my head and making me cry about it) ... IT'S NOT FAIR!" I screamed as loud as I could, almost scaring DK.

"WOAH, woah, woah, Diddy, calm down!" said DK, putting his left arm over my back and almost pressing down on my chest with his right hand.

"WHY SHOULD I!?" I yelled, resisting DK's comfort, "Didn't you feel the same way!? I remember when we first saw that screen! Just after the game came out, we failed on this one level in World 5 and got that 'Screen of Death' and we were both shocked! How did you feel about seeing the end of your necktie cut off!?"

"I know, and I really don't think they should have done that," agreed DK, "Surely, getting a 'Game Over' shouldn't have to give you a creepy image. It would've been okay if they just had the words appear on the screen, but ... a horrible picture that depicts us looking like ... 'you-know-what', ... I think they went overboard with that idea."

"Anyway, just as my worse-looking screen disappeared from my vision, ..." I said, "... I … woke up in my bed. My nightmare was over. I didn't scream, but … just couldn't even lay down again after that, from all the scares that I'd got in the last five minutes!"

"I'm so sorry, little buddy," said DK sweetly, who slowly lifted me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around DK's neck and I felt his arms almost squeeze my back and his warm hand gently rubbing the back of my head. My eyes started pouring tears down my face and my nose started dripping. Some of the tears landed on DK's shoulder as we rubbed each others' cheeks.

"In reality I felt so terrible for ... not being able to keep the banana hoard safe that night," I said with a cry, "Terribly embarrassing!"

"Embarrassing?" asked a confused DK.

"Yeah," I replied, "In reality I was so embarrassed the moment they sealed me into that barrel. I felt especially embarrassed the next morning after you freed me from that barrel."

I let go of DK's neck and we looked at each other in the eyes.

"I could tell," said DK, wiping my eyes, "As you looked at me in the eyes, you had that look on your face that made you look pretty embarrassed."

"Well, ... half-embarrassed, really, ... half-embarrassed that ... you had to free me from that barrel. The other half ... was ... feeling determined to take out King K. Rool."

"Which we eventually did," finished DK.

"Yeah," I said, trying to smile at DK, but more thoughts came in my head that kept me from smiling, "I don't understand. Why do these flashbacks often have to occur? There are many things from the past that I don't like to think about, ... and that one, in particular, is one of my worst nightmares ever. I don't know why it even came up on me in the first place last night. I didn't sleep again at all for the rest of the night until morning."

"Oh, dear," replied DK, looking like he couldn't believe that I'd been awake for that long, "You've been awake since like 3 or 4 in the morning?"

"I didn't want that image that appear in my head again!"

"Aw, Diddy, my poor little buddy," said DK, hugging me. I could tell right then that he felt so sorry for me.

Just as DK let me rest my head on the pillow again, my tears got worse. I was openly crying in DK's presence with him right beside me, and I couldn't stop it. These are moments I often don't like.

"Awww, please don't cry, little buddy," asked DK in his most sorry-sounding voice ever.

"I'm trying not to, … DK," I said. Yet there I was, looking like a young teenager in a case of serious depression, and feeling like a heartbroken coward. By now, I had pretty much ruined the pillow with my tears!

"I'll be right back, Diddy," said DK.

He got up off the sofa and walked into the kitchen where we had eaten our breakfast. I just sat there silently in my sad and disturbing train of thoughts, wondering what DK was up to. I felt like I could never get beside myself. It's times like these where all I can do is say to myself, "Diddy, you've gotta stop thinking about your rough past!" Those times are long since over, yet they still come back to haunt me! I'm not much of a coward anymore, yet I wondered why I had just acted like one right in front of my best buddy ever, all because of a horrible-looking picture of me! Why me? WHY!?

Just then, DK came back with a glass of banana juice (not to be confused with Cranky's banana juice from 'Donkey Kong Country Returns') and brought it over to me. As he laid down beside me on the sofa again, he also gave me a tissue. It took me about a minute to stop crying long enough for me to blow my nose with my tissue and dry my face, then I took a small sip of my banana juice.

DK started telling his story about how the morning after the storm had been a nightmare for him.

"You know, you do have a point. There are many things from the past that we don't like to think about after they happen. I have had those times before, too."

"You have?" I asked.

"Yeah," replied DK. "The morning after that horrible night seemed to start off as nightmarish. I had felt very interested to see how you had made it through the storm. I went up to the tree house, and … -"

"I wasn't there. I know," I finished with a sniffle.

"Yeah," said DK, and we both sighed. "I figured that you were probably in the banana cave, munching on what you should have been guarding."

"What!? Heck no!" I said with my face looking suspicious. Would he really think I would do such a thing like that when I was so determined to be a hero, knowing that doing such a thing like that would be unheroic!?

"Well," said DK, trying to recover, "... it was only a thought that I had, just a strange thought, so I entered the cave and … stopped cold dead in my tracks."

"The bananas were all gone. I know that, too," I added.

"Every last one taken," said DK. "I stumbled back into the jungle, awestricken, … and fell into some bushes which I'm pretty sure were the same bushes that you had been punted into the night before. I found a barrel and … I could hear you pounding on it from the inside."

"And … freed me."

"Just lobbed it into a tree."

"Do you know what else was embarrassing?" I said. "Both of us were speechless after you freed me."

"I know. We knew what had to be done," added DK.

"We were after our bananas. I know," I said.

"We eventually got them back, though, soon after, and then you were regarded as a hero for the very first time," said DK.

"You know, ... back in the nineties being a hero had always been my own personal goal, and ... I felt so wonderful to have ... truly accomplished it. I always wanted to be one," I said.

"Believe me, Diddy, no matter what happens, you've always been a hero to me," said DK with a smile.

"Really?"

"Of course, my little pal," replied DK, "and I even think you're a pretty good sports player, if I don't say so myself."

"You think so?" I asked him, (sort of) disagreeing with him about the sports thing.

"I sure do," said DK.

"Because I always thought I'd do horribly in a lot of those ... sports," I told DK, "You know, ... almost ten years ago when I first tried out for that Mushroom Kingdom Sports Club, ... I didn't really fit in with those guys. I knew at that point that it was gonna be a nightmare. Yes, that, too, ... nightmarish."

"Well, ...," began DK, "... I understand it's just what your personal thought is, ... but as far as I'm concerned, ... you are a pretty okay sports player. Besides, I've even seen you win a couple of tournaments."

"Well, okay, I've won a few tournaments, but other than that," I added, "... they would often make fun of me by saying that many people would predict that because I'm just so small compared to most others ... and one of those younger guys, ... I would easily get knocked out on the first round. It didn't seem to matter what sport it was! Sadly, some people still do that to this day."

I let out some more tears of sadness.

"Well, there is one sport, however, that you really dominate at, ... one that's got nothing to do with the Mushroom Kingdom Sports Club. It's racing," explained DK.

"Yeah," I said, "Racing really is, by far, my best sport. That is unless, if you count those MarioKart tournaments. Some of those were nightmarish as well."

"I understand, little buddy," replied DK.

I took another sip of my banana juice. However, before I could swallow it, I suddenly sniffled from all my crying, causing me to improperly swallow the juice. The juice went into one of my lungs, and I started choking. I choked for about half of a minute before DK told me to take a few deep breaths. I tried to breathe, but the juice in my lungs was still making me struggle for air. DK had to help me stop choking. As my head and chest were slowly jerking back and forth, trying to stop all the coughing and choking, DK put one hand on my back and the other hand on my chest.

"There, there. It's okay, it's okay. Just lie down," he said.

I lied my head back down on my pillow, and DK kept his right hand over my chest. He squeezed my chest slightly so as to put some pressure on my lungs. Tears came down my face in reaction to what was coming …

DK's method of choking medication without having to worry about Cranky's awful pills!

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered to me, trying to keep me calm.

Then, I was able to take a few deep breaths and my choking accident was finally over.

Shortly after I recovered from my choking accident, DK once again told me about how sorry he felt for me about my nightmare.

"Thanks, DK," I said.

"You're welcome, little buddy," answered DK, "... or should I say: my heroic little buddy."

My heart sank. Even 17 ½ years after my first heroic achievement in helping DK get his banana hoard back from King K. Rool, I still felt touched whenever someone called me a hero. It's always nice to have a big buddy around for someone like me.

"Now then, as far as I understand it, you've got a race coming up tomorrow, don't you?" said DK.

"Yes," I said, my voice still sounding so down, though.

"Well, let's get that sad look off your face and start thinking about other things, then," replied DK.

I tried to stop thinking about my nightmare and start thinking about that upcoming Enthusia race again.

The next day, in Tokyo, I dominated in yet another Enthusia race in my Nismo Skyline GT-R and won my tenth straight race, tying the sport's all-time consecutive wins record! When I pulled my car into the Winner's Circle, that nightmare was out of my mind for good! One more win, and I would officially break the all-time consecutive wins record. Sure enough, one week later in Germany, in a track where Bowser, Jr. has been known to literally crush the competition at, I pulled it off! I, Diddy Kong, had just become the first soul to ever win eleven consecutive Enthusia Professional Cup Series events! Those handful of Nintendo characters who raced back in the 90's (there were only four of them, including DK and Mario) could never even dream of pulling off something like this off! They were all so unsuccessful in Enthusia, having never won the Speediapolis 500, the Nürburgring Finale or the Professional Cup championship. They combined to win very few races in the 90's, and came so close to winning a title, yet to no avail every single time! Bowser, Jr. eventually broke the curse in 2009 in a Toyota GT-one, and then, a year later I won the 500, the Finale and the championship! Then in 2011, I won the title again, and now I was the first video game character to score at least twenty career victories and the new all-time record holder for most consecutive wins! I guess you could say that I'm the best Nintendo character in "Enthusia Professional Racing" history! Wow, what a month July 2012 was!


End file.
